Well, This is it boys and girls, my first Filipino entry for a film review. Funny how it has to start this way, a short film, but that's just about it ladies and gents, as true creativity lies within the little people, Slasher horror is forgotten among my country's local mainstream and down into film projects.

A short film from University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Tahing Gabi tells the story of a popular urban legend of a Kidney Heist, in which a teenage girl, walking home late at night, got abducted by a mad surgeon and underwent an impromptu kidney removal. of course, she got through the operation and as she stumbles to her escape, the Mad Surgeon isn't through with her yet...

Our unnamed victim and her surgeon

Thankfully shot without dialogue, Tahing Gabi come off pretty entertaining knowing that these students know their slasher horror very well. Acting is put into theatrics, and relied heavily on body movement to tell the story. There's also some pretty decent blood and special effects, something that really surprised me comparing to the mainstream CG blood or obviously edited gore scenes; there's a lot of heart put through this project and it earned my respect for that.

The only drawback here is that, due to it being dialogue-less, it's accompanied with some licensed soundtracks from other horror flicks (one of it being SAW's "Hello Zep"). I know there's other films out there who used Licensed soundtrack to groove up their film; like Quentin Tarantino (nod to you, feller!) as well as that Art film-Giallo Amer (2009), but putting Hello Zep in a slightly amateurish chase scene kinda killed the tension.

Other than that, it's a nice look for a project and a bit of a relief for me. At least now I know I'm not alone in my country when it comes to slasher films. Kudos to the fellers who made this film and hope for the best this New Year!

Now we feel the same~! 8D We're not alone!

Bodycount:
1 female presumably killed
total: 1

(...by the way, I have no relation to these students other than race and probably skin color. I'm currently attending my last sememester in Fourth year as a Journalist in the University of Santo Thomas...which is probably 500 mile or so from the college of origin of this short film..."500 miles or so"...I'm terrible with math...)

For long, we slasher fans, or any horror fans out there, would know that charismatic, serial slasher yuppie Patrick Bateman is dead. Killed off in a snap of a finger, his fate ended at the hands of a little brat who would later grow up to be an FBI agent moonlighting as a serial killer.

By then, we were devastated by the results of what would later follow. Hell, that little bitch couldn't hold the flame to what the real American Psycho had done. Hell she's not even hot! (Gemma Ward is Hot. Pamela Springsteen is Hot. Amber Heard is hot. Her? Not...just annoying) Everything that the first worked up, reduced to standard, stereotyped slasher that offers very little and done a lot of things done before. (way better before...)

But the more I starts to dwell in the fact that Bateman is dead, the more I began to have an epiphany, a revelation of sorts. So I began to question: Is Bateman really dead?

The Thousand Yard stare...

Look at it this way, at the first movie, Bateman hold many aliases such as Paul Allen and Marcus Halberstram, all of it he hated, since he claims that the people who calls him those names always mistook him for another person. Soon enough he murdered the real Paul Allen, hacking his face with an axe while dancing to Huey Lewis' Hip to be Square. After disposing the body, he was left unsuspected by anybody of a crime and claims that Paul had left for London. Later in the film, his psychosis starts to break down to a small-time massacre, shooting number of innocent citizens, an action of which he described in full detail (along with many other killings) to a lawyer over the phone.

The next morning, he met up with his lawyer, who claims it was a joke and mistook Patrick for someone named Davis. Patrick breaks down further, trying to convince the massacre was real, but his lawyer claims to had seen Paul Allen in London and has talked to him. In addition to this, his personal assistant saw a number of detailed drawing of every murder and taboo he had committed.

"TRY GETTING THAT RESERVATION IN DORSIA NOW YOU
STUPID, FUCKING, BASTARD!"

Now, if we're going to put the book's context into this, where the later chapters seems to be more and more delusional, we could assume that it was all in his head, and Bateman didn't commit any of the crimes. Not to mention the number of times he had been mistaken for other people. If this is the case, then what are the odds that Patrick Bateman being the real "Patrick Bateman"? What if Christian Bale's character is actually just modeling himself to a REAL serial killer, who goes by the name "Patrick Bateman" and just fantasized himself committing these murders and taboos? I mean Christian Bale's character talked a lot about serial killers like Ed Gein and Charles Manson, what are the odds that Bateman, the real Bateman is a separate entity? Who's just as real and fatal as Bale's character.

For all we know, he's psychologically imbalanced and is a ticking-time bomb himself, it would be a matter of time before he starts committing his own brand of murders. All the while, we have another case; In 2002, we have the sequel to this film, smaller in budget and in imagination, about one Rachael Newman attending a university for Behavioral Science, aiming to be an assistant to a beloved professor whom she look up to. Well, it was all peachy-peach until she starts watering down the competition, not to mention unearthing a scandal. She had her own brand of murder and mayhem at the end, but she's actually made infamous for many fans by one act of sin...SHE KILLED BATEMAN! THAT BITCH!

Okay, okay, personal issues aside, We get to see how the sin was commited: Rachael was very young when her babysitter brought home a date, unknown to her her date was really Patrick Bateman. Just as Bateman began to eviscerate his new victim, Rachael escapes and sticked an ice pick into her captor's head. He dead. Rachael lives and soon all hell broke loose.

Now, we could all assume that, due to budget restrains, the sequel hired another face to play as Bateman, who now wears a mask as he commits his crime, but we could also look at it this way: this is the real Patrick Bateman. The real serial killer. the face Christian Bale's character idolizes so much. If this is the case, then Bateman, the real Bateman, is killed by a brat. Bale's character, Bateman's probable number one fan, is still alive, and probably devastated by this fact and would go into further psychosis which would lead to a full blown serial killing, and that slut got away with it and is now an FBI agent.

One day...you'll get bit in the arse, my lady...

That, or the old story: Bale's character is really Bateman and he finally worked up the guts to commit murders one day, plastic surgeries his face into a different one to avoid suspicion and, after so long, made his first mistake and bit the big one at the hands of a six year old.

Then again, this is just a theory. It's up to the fans of the first, and if any, of the second, to conclude whether this notion is probable or improbable.

So there you have it! Til' next time, mates as I tackle more of horror cinema's hidden and long debated questions!

Friday, December 30, 2011

I stumbled upon this little known short animation one short film hunting...aka this night...last night, whenever you're reading this, and i got to say, I fell in love with this sick little "fairy tale".

A race of small round creatures known as Bradans were living a peaceful day of carrot picking, swimming in the stream or just plain lying on the grass when a six-legged monster, who claims to be he Viscerin Princess, came into their village with vicious intentions.

Just as quickly, the monster starts killing off the defenseless and awfully frightened creatures in the slickest manner. Leaving no survivors. Or at least, that's what it wanted us to think.

The animation is fluid and well drawn, coming off a bit warm with it's hand-drawn background and characters, simple designs put to good use and a simple story with a twist at the end. Of course, being a slasher, it dose itself a large number of slicings and stabbings, kinda coming off as quickly as possible, but none the less, still disturbing to sit through with added soundtrack that brings out the tension of the slaughter. The whole short is like a bittersweet fairy tale; no moral, no social satire, no happy endings, just plain vicious mayhem put to play in a child-like perception and fairy tale playfulness.

Those who have a good taste on artistic animation, or at least, love a weird short film, should give this little bad girl a whirl and see the mayhem unfold for yourself. It's not a message film, nor is it anything Oscar worthy, just one, creepy, disturbing, cartoon, of a deranged monster with a purpose...

Just when you think it pays to ben ice...it didn't for once. Yeah, I decided to take a tiny lookie-lookie into this supposed bad boy, boasting a kickass poster and claims to had taken its idea from my favorite Agatha Christie book And Then There were None. I happen to like that book. a lot. so yes, I dashed to the nearest copy around (Thank you Youtube!...sorry I take that back). What hit me at the end is something like a badly written rip-off of that book, made to film, put to a blender, mixed with cupid's ambrosia and Peter Griffin's home made energy drink.

The plot is as simple as it gets that anybody who's anybody could do it; a group of film makers and it's "actors" and "actresses", went to an island to shoot a "positive youth film." Positive gonna nailed it...if yer a happy young teen who just got his, or her, first porno, cuz yeah, they're secretly shooting a porno. Apparently it wouldn't matter for these young ragtag of actors cuz they don't seem to mind...or notice.

Well that's not the point. The thing is there's a f*cktart who starts killing off the crew, basing his or her murders on a bizarre song that can come out as a lame version of the Hungarian Suicide song (Gloomy Sunday, for those who're curious). You don't need me to tell you it was one of them. But who?

Yeah well, f*ck it. I didn't care and neither should you, cuz, personally, it's a big, long, wet, drag. Does that sound too personal? Well, maybe. I can't help it, it takes a monumental fuck-up to screw something so simple as that! bad lighting, awful script, cheesy acting ("I'm sorry, it isn't every day that I find someone boiled to death!" Honey...neither do then thousand more folks in Massachusetts ), and lots and lots of draggy scenes. If there's anything more bland and shaven bald dull than this, then I don't know what side of the world I'm in it right now!

You wanna know where that single star you see in that rating over there goes to? The kills. a likable bunch, I'll tell you. But not even that could save the Queen from this utter dreck. Do yourself a favor and if you ever see this film on rental. Steal it and burn it. It'll get you into trouble, but watching this damn film is a fate worse than parole.

Someone thought it was a good idea to follow up the cult-favorite DTV horror flick Malevolence from Anchor Bay. Well, it was, but after that mixed feeling I got on the first, I had my doubts.

Knowing what a half and half decent dreck the first film was, I had a lot of questions going through my head: was I about to watch a serial killer raise a kid to be his prodigy? Am I that desperate to see that? I'm wasn't...but I ended up seeing it anyway to see if there are any improvements.

Bereavement tells the story of how young Martin Bristol became the killer featured in 2004's Malevolence; the first half of the film jumps back and forth between two focused characters, one being Bristol, taken under the wing of a serial killer, Graham Sutter, who's targeting young women and offering them to a Scythe wielding figure whom he fears.

The other focus was on Alison, a young orphaned teenager who moved in with her uncle's family in the same town where Graham's committing his crimes. We follow her as she adjusts to her new life and even find a new found lover whom her uncle doesn't seem to be fond of.

The Martin and Alison's paths got entwined one day when Alison saw Martin inside the slaughterhouse and, upon following, got captured by Graham. When she fails to return home, her second family and her boyfriend decided to look for her, only to meet a grisly end on Sutter's hand one by one. It's only a matter of time before he finishes off what is left of Alison's loved one, but what does this all mean from Martin's point of view?

While you can see the ending from far away, Bereavement sports a jagged raw edge that's missing from the first installment. The first's sluggish pacing is still present, dragging us with are its prolonged family drama-meets-coming of age elements that stomped a few scenes dead and, at times, felt unnecessary. Thankfully, the story is more complex and intriguing that it's worth sitting through for the fiery climax, giving us the same grim and sullen atmosphere that the first film was best known for.

A lot more thought is put through this one, making it more of a psychological character study, taking a look on a psychopath's work and the things he's willing to do to make his prodigy just as "successful" as he is. There were no twists or shock scares, just a brooding, grim horror flick that tries to amp itself a bit from its "parent" movie. To simply put, it's a prequel film that does what most prequel movie should be doing: explain.

And explain it did, details and all. The introduction of the killer responsible for the masked monster in the future, Graham Sutter (Brett Rickaby), who shockingly resembles Jame Gumb from Silence of the Lambs and whose past abuse under the hands of his father made hinted on his constant rambling and physical abuse to young Bristol. He goes as far as cutting the boy's cheek or pinning the boy's hand to the table with a knife (!) to make a point; disturbingly, he shows a lot of characteristics to known serial killers like Ted Bundy and Ed Gein as well as cinema monsters like Maniac's Frank Zito and Francis Dolarhyde from Red Dragon. Young Martin Bristol (Spencer List) also has an unpleasant presence everytime he's on-screen as we see him slowly transform into a scared little boy to a hardened killer a young age. It wasn't too long before he starts to do away anybody with a knife or an axe. (An improvement seeing it even dished out a more creative set of kills compared to the original)

Still a slow-burner, but at least a decently crafted psycho-thriller at that, Bereavement is a step up from where I'm standing. It still has a long way to go, perhaps some decent editing, or rather a better set of murders would do the trick. Depressing? Well, I've seen more depressing shit (Super? Cold Fish?), but yeah it is. Gory? Messy. Good? Almost.

Bodycount:
1 female gutted with knife
1 female had her legs hacked off with machete, mostly offscreen
1 female burned alive in incinerator
1 female gutted with knife
1 male shot on the gut with shotgun
1 male bludgeoned to death with shovel
1 female stabbed on the chest with kitchen knife
1 female knifed to death
1 girl killed offscreen with knife
1 male hacked to death with axe
total: 10

A gang of bank robbers find themselves in a dire situation when one of them got fatally shot and another seemingly ran away with the money. Now under pursuit of the cops, the remaining robbers hijacks a car and held its occupants, a mother and her daughter, hostage in an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere as they wait for the other and plot what to do should everything fail.

Things further get complicated when the girl escapes and finds refuge at a nearby slaughterhouse which, unknown to her, is the dwelling place of a psychopath now well aware that there are people nearby for him to kill.

Overall, Malevolence is surprisingly mature for a slasher as instead of bombarding is story with cheese, shocking kills and annoyingly dumb victims, it focuses more on okay acting (for a set of no-names), an intense build-up and a workable story.

There's actually a lot of 80s feel to it with the entire plot resembling like a longer version of the first 15 to 20 minutes of Satan's Blade, boasting a grainy yet picturesque film quality, a lot of Halloween (1978) inspired cinematography and even some Mario Bava/ Dario Argento inspired colored lighting.

And then there's the pot-boiler pacing which I believe divided my reaction; for one, while the bank-robbery-gone-wrong meets psycho-slasher is a relatively new take for its time, at least two years prior to the better Euro-Comedy The Cottage, Malevolence fell a bit flat on making any impact since the story was kinda predictable and the seeing this is more of a tension driven slasher, it's a tad tedious even once the killings start. Thankfully some scenes worked well with the creeper pace, particularly involving people going through the isolated houses, may it be the robbers, the kidnapped family, or even the killer himself.

And speaking of the maniac, the killer here is what I can best describe as a homage to bagheaded killers like the ones at The Night Brings Charlie, The Town that Dreaded Sundown and even the first Friday the 13th sequel, though not overly impressive. What he offers in turn was the creep factor he possesses whenever he is in the scene to attack a victim which are, despite the lack of a kill count or creativity on his murders, visually impressive on their realism and even brutality.

He also has an origin that doubles as this film's twist reveal, which was unfortunately handled messily here (in vein of Psycho (1960) just to give a hint) but was further and well-explored in this film's prequel; not a lot to say about it in this film except that it was far from what I expected but it doesn't do much as an initial impact.

Malevolence has a lot of strengths which, for some, might also be its own double edge blade; the film can be an ingenious and original take on a slasher film that just goes to show that it can work without exploiting it, or, for those who prefer their bodycounting trashier, a chore of a movie. Still, as a slasher, it did something rather daring for its time when blood and guts are making a comeback thanks to SAW and Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake; it personally took a while for me to appreciate its attempts but in the end, I am impressed.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

I got to hand it to Clive Barker when it comes to monsters. His imagination is completely limitless and thanks to Image Animation (the Special Effetcs company behind creating the Nightbreeds) we get a handful of these beautiful creatures littered all over the movie. Here are some of the pretty (or unpretty) faces that popped out to greet us as we ventured down to Midian

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About Me

I'm a Filipino Nerd with a penchant for all things weird, messy and overly theatrical. Loves to draw, write, and read at a highschool level.
Has a thing for slashers, monsters, comic books, Doctor Who and collecting knick-knacks such as a certain line of toys based on a 2010 reboot of an 80s cartoon about talking, rainbow colored ponies.